A Boy Named Goo by Goo Goo Dolls
A Boy Named Goo, sometimes referred to as ABNG, is the fifth studio album by the Goo Goo Dolls, released in 1995 on Warner Bros.. This is the Goo Goo Dolls' last studio album with George Tutuska on drums; he was replaced by current drummer Mike Malinin just before the album was released. This album is the Goo Goo Dolls first studio album not to have fourteen tracks. The song "Stand Alone" was written by George Tutuska, and because Johnny Rzeznik didn't want to exploit George's efforts after his dismissal, the song was only included on a promo version of the album. On the wide-release version, it is replaced with "Disconnected" and "Slave Girl" which were initially B-sides to the "Only One" single. On the same promo, "Ain't That Unusual" was labeled as "Someday." The two replacement songs are covers of songs by defunct Buffalo and Sydney, punk bands The Enemies and Lime Spiders. The song "Name" is well known as the Goo Goo Dolls' first hit. This was "quite accidentally," according to lead singer Johnny Rzeznik. It also marked the band's last album with the Metalblade Records imprint.
It took five albums for the Goo Goo Dolls to break into the mainstream – but once they did, the results were spectacular. The scrappy Buffalo trio turned <i>A Boy Named Goo</i> (1995) into a tour-de-force of working class frustration, wounded idealism and hard-won grace. Remarkably, the band took a steady-eyed shot at big-time success without compromising its underlying bash-and-thrash ethic and hit the jackpot on its own terms. Singer/guitarist John Rzeznik applies his raw-throated yowl to the best set of shout-along pop/rockers of the band’s career, wringing spasms of feeling out of “Long Down,” “Only One” and similar hard-pop tunes. Bassist Robby Takac’s less-abrasive vocals lend “Burnin’ Up” and “Somethin’ Bad” a touch of honey to balance the sonic vinegar. The band careens its way through anthemic ballads like “Ain’t That Unusual” and nicely nasty rockers like “Slave Girl” with roughneck delight. The throbbing heart of the album is “Name,” a melancholy rock aria sung by Rzeznik with hit-making bravura. <i>A Boy Named Goo</i> seethes with the sort of brazen yet naïve ambition that only a gang of street punks could muster, resulting in an unexpected commercial <i>and</i> artistic triumph.
